Means for assorting articles



June 4-, 1940. Q w BAQQN' JR 2,203,248

MEANS FOR ASSORTING ARTICLES Filed Nov. 7, 1936 A TT NEYS.

Patented June 4, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR ASSORT'ING ARTICLES Application November 7, 1936, Serial No. 109,789

5 Claims.

This invention relates to means for assorting articles, and has particular application in connection with the inversion for inspection and classification of such articles as buttons.

The objects of the invention are to minimize the time required for inspection and assortment; to provide dependable means for successively exhibiting opposite sides of an article; tosecure efiicient use of direct labor; to avoid unnecessary handling of the articles; to provide for automatic reversal or turning over of the articles; to obtain the automatic reversal of the article in conjunction with maintenance of the level of elevation or plane of travel of the article; to increase output; to secure simplicity of construction and of method employed; and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views;

Figure 1 is an elevation of an article turning means disassociated from the rest of the apparatus;

Figure 2 is a plan of the apparatus showing several of the article turning means in operative position thereon;

Figure 3 is a similar detailed plan of a part of one of the button turning units;

Figure 4 is a developed elevation of one of the turning blades employed in such units; and

Figure 5 is an elevation of a supporting leaf employed with the turning blade as part of the turning unit.

In the manufacture of buttons, the matter of inspection and grading is not only necessary, but because of the time involved, is a very important part of the manufacture. When it is realized that pearl buttons, for instance, resolve into perhaps 40 grades, and each button must be inspected on top and bottom to classify it in any one grade, it can be readily understood that the proportion of cost involved in this part of the manufacture is very considerable. Under the old method, for the most part, faces were assorted by individual operators at individual tables. These buttons were thus partially graded, and then would be dumped on another table and regraded into other subdivisions. This same operation has been repeated a third and even more times. All of these operations required turning of the buttons over, and required repeated handling and much duplication of eifort.

Application of human labor to industrial operations invariably involves use of two components, one, physical effort manifested by the movement, and the other, mental attention in which useful work is done though no movement need be perceptible. The present invention is directed to eliminate, as far as possible, all the 5 physical effort, and to improve the application of the mental attention. Let it be said that the mental attention involves not only perception to gather visually the characteristics exhibited by the particular specimen, but also involves a decision from mental calculation of the value and weight of each characteristic to allocate to one grade or another. It must be remembered that attention wanders almost instantly unless the features of the task form a consecutive chain containing variety but excluding gaps. Likewise, in presenting articles, such as buttons, to the attention of the operator, the consecutive rapidity must match the aptitude of the individual, but above all must be free from gaps which invite attention to wander and which then require the effort of refocusing.

Under the previously employed method of assorting articles, such as buttons, the same have had no regularity of presentation to the operator, merely being placed before the operator promiscuously and making it uncertain that every, button has been really observed. It is well known that in the simple counting of a number of articles lying irregularly before a person that great difliculty is experienced, after traversing in an approximate row, just which objects have been counted when trying to proceed on another row. This same difficulty was present when' merely inspecting the articles to determine which ones have been viewed previously and which ones have not been looked at. Obviously to err by inspecting the buttons twice represents a loss of time, which in a day will seriously affect the output, whereas to err in the other direction and omit inspection of buttons that should otherwise be graded, results in irregular and less desirable grading, which likewise is equally to be avoided. According to the present invention I provide means for applying buttons or other articles to a travelling belt conveyor which passes a number of stations and permits inspection of the buttons as they are carried along. The invention contemplates application of the buttons to the belt at a desired and regular rate. These buttons are immediately caused to travel in definite lines, or files and with all buttons of only one line face up and all buttons in the other line 'or file backs up. By mechanically turning the one line or fileof buttons over, the initial inspection may preferably comprise each a blade I9 the forward be made of corresponding or front faces of the buttons by one or more operators as needed as the buttons pass before them successively in files or lines of buttons. The buttons of each file are mechanically turned over and other operators grade according to the character of the newly exposed sides. As each grade, for which the operators are watching, are finally selected, they are discharged to bins for the purpose, and subsequent operators have only the remaining grades to assort.

Referring more specifically to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, there is shown a horizontally disposed belt conveyor 16, the upper reach of which forms the moving worksupport for the buttons. The operators are positioned as needed at the side or sides or" the conveyor, and will be identified as stations. As many operators as needed may be working at any one station. The operator or operators at one side of'the conveyor, or if desired opposed operators at the two sides of the conveyor, which, in either event represents station 1, assorts these buttons by sliding those which are face up toward one side of the conveyor, for instance, making the approximate file A and slides the buttons which are face down to the other side of the conveyor thereby making file B. Attention is directed to the fact that this operation is very simple to perform and requires no more physical effort than to place a finger on a button in the wrong file and slide it toward the other side of the belt. There is no need to endeavor to pick up the button nor to otherwise obtain a grip upon it to turn it over. There likewise is no expenditure of energy which will tend to bounce the belt and disturb other buttons thereon.

Following the positions of station number 1, is a half battery of turners, that is a means i8 disposed half way across the belt. These turners edge of which is curved and in contact with the belt. The turners are spaced apart slightly more than the width of each blade, and consequently the edge of a button can always be in contact with the belt. The turner blade slopes at one side upwardly away from the belt as at 22 and thus operates to tilt the button, and this sloping increases toward the tail 26 of the blade to such extent that the upper part of the blade at the tail crosses over the lower part of the tail, thereby causing the button to rise up to a perpendicular position and then flop over to its other face. .By virtue of the contact of the button at its edge at all times with the belt the button continuously advances during this lifting and turning opera.- tion, and consequently is upon the following section of the belt when it is turned over. The means I8 is shown as having also a backing member 23 which stands vertically and has fiatwise engagement with the vertical portion of blade IS. The end edges or tabs 24 on the said backing member are curled around edge portions of the blade thereby securing the two parts together and reinforcing the blade by the backing member. The lower edge of the backing member is horizontal and rides on the belt or conveyor and is shown with a tail extension 25 extending as far back as the point where tail 29 of the blade becomes vertical. The backing member 23 prevents one blade from pushing buttons under the next adjacent blade, and each blade preferably spaced away from the adjacent backing member of the next blade just enough to enable the edge of the engaged button to have contact with the belt.

All of said means I8 are shown supported upon a rod 26 extending across the belt, said rod preferably being threaded and receiving lock nuts on opposite sides of each said means 18 for securing the same in the desired and proper spaced relationship with respect to each other. It is preferable to place the bank of turners at a slight angle to the direction of travel of the belt, so as to always have present a moment of force exerting a side thrust on the buttons and keeping them in contact with the surface of the turners as well as to exert a pushing moment to advance the buttons along the turners.

The buttons thus turned over are of course scattered in substantially the same relation as that to which operator number 1 pushes them prior to contacting the turner. I accordingly provide beyond the turning means across the same half of the belt surface, a deflector 2| which causes all of the buttons which passed through the turners to be deflected into a file of buttons C passing operator 2 at the side of the belt next to which the operator is stationed. Operator 2 is consequently inspecting the face sides of the buttons passing along file C, and does not disturb any of the buttons in that file which pass inspection as of the best grade. Any button not meeting the inspectors requirement for a first grade button is flipped to the other side of the belt and lands in a rather promiscuous file, which continues along the further side'of the belt from the operator.

The original division of the scatter of buttons into roughly formed files A and B by the first operator, the buttons in file A having been rightside up initially and passing inspection as satisfactory. This has therefore enabled those left in and placed in file B to be mechanically manipulated by the above mentioned control or turning operation and formed in file C to be thereafter given a further inspection and division if found desirable or necessary. The buttons remaining in file B are here shown deflected to an outlet 32 at the side of the belt by engagement with a deflector 36 diagonally disposed across and adjacent to that part of the belt so that the satisfactory buttons are discharged into a bin 31. The foregoing description of method of division into various files is merely illustrative of various I assortments which can be made of buttons or other articles enabling only such as need .be turned over or inverted to be placed in files which present them to the turning mechanism forming the subject matter of the present invention. It is accordingly to be understood that the turning mechanism may be arranged in banks of as many of the same as are necessary for the particular width of belt used for articles to be inverted and the present invention is not restricted to any particular placing of operators or the manipulation of the articles prior to their presentation to the turning mechanism or subsequent to the inversion of the article having been effected.

I claim:

1. A means for assorting articles of the character of substantially fiat buttons, comprising a conveyor with a continuously smooth conveying surface for progressively transporting thereby the articles during assortment, and a turning means overlying the conveyor in substantial en-. gagement with the said smooth conveying surface thereof and interposed in the path of transportation of the articles lying fiatwise on said surface, and having an upper surface onto which the underside of the articles will ride, said upper surface arranged and adapted to engage and turn the articles entirely over with a part of said articles always remaining in engagement with the conveyor during the turning of said articles and continuing to advance in the direction of movement of the conveyor.

2. A means for assorting articles according to claim 1, wherein the turning means comprises a plurality of plow-like turners.

3. A means for assorting articles according to claim 1, wherein the turning means comprises a plurality of plow-like turners having blades substantially in engagement with the conveyor and directed toward the vapproaching articles.

4. A means for assorting articles according to claim 1, wherein the turning means comprises a plurality of plow-like turners having blades substantially in engagement with the conveyor and directed toward the approaching articles, and having tails extending in the direction of travel of the articles, each said blade and tail providing an upwardly twisting surface with an upper part of the tail crossing over a lower part thereof for causing an article engaging the blade to rise at one edge from the conveyor to a perpendicular position and then flop over.

i 5. An article turner comprising a plow-like structure having an article engaging edge sloping outwardly rearward in a horizontal plane for ticle engaging and riding rearwardly along the blade to rise at one edge to a perpendicular position and then flop over.

LEONARD W. BACON, JR. 

